Charles f



(No'Model.)

O. F. STUBBLES.

PROCESS 0F ORNAMENTING METALS.

No. 584,531. Patented June l5, 1897.V

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CHARLES F. STUBBLES, OF IVALTHAM, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR OF ONE-HALF TOJAMES E. COX, OF SAME PLACE.

PROCESS OF ORNAMENTNG METALS.

SPECIFICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 584,581, dated J une15, 1897. i

Application filed December 21, 1896l Serial No. 616,395. (No specimens.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES F. STUBBLns, of W'altham, in the county ofMiddlesex and State of Massachusetts, have invented a new and usefulProcess of Ornamenting Metals, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, inWhich- Figures 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 represent the metal plate as it appearsafter successive steps in my process.

My invention is a process for ornalnenting metal su rfaces-such, forexample, as the top plate of a Watch-movement, and it is the applicationof my process to such a plate that I shall describe in this specication.

Processes in which a plate of metal was in Y part covered With anacid-resistin g substance,

after Which the unprotected portion Was subjected to the action of anetching fluid, are old and are described in patents to Skinner, No.72,553, dated December 24, 1867; Good- Win, No. 509,124, dated November21, 1893, and British patent to Millward, No. 11,416, of 1846; but myprocess differs materially from any of the processes heretofore known inthis that owing to the sequence of the steps of my process I am enabledto obtain four contrasts of surface in the finished plate-for example,bright gilt, bright nickel, satin gilt, and satin nickel.

In performing my process I proceed as follows, the surface to beoperated upon being the plates of a Watch-movement: For the bestresults-that is, the most distinct contrast in the finished article-itis desirable that the portion of the surface of the plate which isultimatelyT to be bright or polished shall be very smooth. The firststep in my process consists in covering with any suitable oily substancesuch portions of the metal as I desire ultimately to be satin finish. Asa commercially practical matter for this purpose this design must be putupon the metal by means of a soft pad. The desired design is firstengraved upon copper or steel. The

lines of the engraving are filled With suitable ink or oily substance.The surface of the plate is then cleaned and the pad pressed upon theplate, the design being transferred to the pad. Those skilled in the artWill recognize the fact that this pad is limited in its capacity to takeup Wide lines, the lines if too Wide not being thoroughly inked. Forthis reason I always put on the plate by the pad that part of the designof the finished plate which is intended to cover the least surface of'the plate, and this is usually in Watch-plates the part of the designWhich is intended to be satin finished for purposes of contrast. Havingput on this oily resist I immerse the plate in a suitable electrolyticbath and deposit nickel upon the unprotected surfaces of the plate. Theobject of this step is twofold. The deposited nickel issusceptible of ahigher polish than the base metal upon which it is deposited and is lessliable to tarnish, and though this deposit of nickel is ultimatelyentirely covered it aids the finish of the final deposits of metal to bedeposited upon a highly-polished surface. The second object of thisdeposit of nickel is to serve as a resist against Athe action of anetching process either by fluid or electrolysis. As in producingWatch-plates it is necessary to reduce the cost as much as may be, it isa practical necessity that this varnish or other non-metallic resist beput upon the plate by a pad or other means by which duplicate designsmay be quickly applied; but as comparatively large surfaces are oftenrequired to be thus covered designs so applied are defective, for thereason that the pad Will not thoroughly cover a large surface, theresult being that the etching fluid attacks parts of the metal surfacewhich it Was intended to protect. By electrically depositing a muchharder metal than the base metal upon those parts. of the base metalwhich it is desired to protect, said metal being susceptible of a highpolish, absolutely perfect results are obtained however large thesurfaces to be protected from the etchingtluid.

Having placed the satindinish design in the oily substance upon theplate and nickled the other portions of the plate and having Washed offthe oily resist and polished the nickel, I then immerse the plate in asuitable bath, as the anode of an electric circuit, with the result thatupon the application of electricity those portions of the plate notcovered by deposited nickel are pitted or etched. The result is a platebright nickel in part and in IOO part base metal pitted. One result ofthis etching process is that a fine sediment or scale remains Within thepits when the etching process is stopped. As a practical matter, inorder that the final result may be good, this sediment or scale must beremoved. I accomplish this by immersing the plate in a strong alkalinesolution, cyanid of potassium being the best, so far as I know. Afterwashing the alkaline solution off the plate I deposit a film of goldover the entire surface, the result being a plate bright gilt in part and satin gilt in part. I then dry the plate and transfer to the plate bymeans of a pad or in any suitable way a design in oily ink. Nickel isthen deposited upon the exposed parts and the oily ink is then Washedoff. The resulting plate, if desired, has then portions bright gilt,portions bright nickel, portions satin gilt, and portions satin nickel.It is essential that the gilt shall be applied-before the final nickeldeposit, as I have described it, for the reason that there is no resistwhich it is practical to use which will withstand the hot strongalkaline electrolytic solution in which gold must be deposited. Anyattempt, therefore, to econoniize gold by protecting parts of a plateand depositing gold upon the the oily resist has been removed and thebase metal has been pitted or etched in the electrolytic bath, thedotted surface representing the pitted surface. Fig.`3 shows the plateafter the washing of the vpitted portion of the plate to remove thesediment or scale and the gilding of the entire surface, theperpendicular lines representing the gilt surface, the satin-finishedportion of the plate being dotted and perpendicularly lined. Fig. Ltshows the plate of Fig. 3 prepared for the final step in my process bycovering those portions of the plate Which it is desired shall finallybe gilt with an oily resist. Fig. 5 shows the finished plate with itscontrasts of bright gilt, bright nickel, satin gilt, and satin nickel,the contrasts being indicated in the conventional manner mentionedabove-that is, by hori- Zontal lines for nickel, perpendicular lines forgilt, dotted surface for satin or etched surface, and combinations ofhorizontal lines and dotted surface for satin-nickel finish, andperpendicular lines and dotted surface for satin-gilt huish.

That I claim is* The process above described, consisting of coveringparts of a base-metal surface With an oily resist, nickeling theuncovered parts; removing the oily resist; etching the base metal;gilding the entire plate; coveringparts of the gilt surface with an oilyresist and nickeling the uncovered parts.

l CHARLES F. STUBBLES.

IV itn esses:

XVM. MAYNADIER, JOHN R. SNOW.

